I am a budding author – is there any hope I’ll ever get a book published?

It’s time to dust down that copy of “Stephen King’s 1,000 best tips for horror writing” and start tuning in to your inner voice, because the words you write could be the latest thing that’s gripping everyone by the pool next summer. Gone are the days that meant you had to get your beloved, original piece of fiction about alternative-lifestyle vampire fairies proof read and then edited by a giant publishing company. Now you can be the publisher! All you have to do is head over to kindle direct publishing, allowing you to cut out the middle man for good and get your story out there yourself.

Just go here[1] and click the sign up button that refers to you (based on whether you already have an amazon account or not.) In the next page bang your details in and follow the rest of the steps for sign up.

It’s really important that when the Terms and Conditions pop up that you actually read them! I know this a fairly radical concept – usually, I don’t even read “Te—“ (of Terms and Conditions) before clicking “Agree” as fast as possible. In this instance, however, it is mightily important that you read it. There are all sorts of funny little legal tit bits regarding where your work will be sold and how much the royalties are worth depending on the country in which it is sold. I know you haven’t had a best seller, yet – but let’s just assume you will! You wouldn’t want to get a nasty surprise later on.

Now let’s get publishing! Click the “Add new title” button on the top left and then bash in your book details in the next page.

You’ll have to choose categories so that your work can be found by the right people, so it might be a good idea to take a few minutes to think about this – you don’t want a romantic love story to crop up when a “trekkie” is looking for a science fiction epic – your story wouldn’t get sold! Don’t forget to add a detailed description of your work and upload a cool picture, as this will be the first thing potential book sniffers will see.

Upload the book file when you’re happy with all of the information and then click “Save and Continue.” The next few pages are fairly straightforward, just make sure to read around the royalty pricing structures before deciding how much to take.

Congratulations you’re a publisher and an author, time for the royalties to roll in……better put the kettle on, it may take a while.